In recent years swimming pools have transitioned from large, community based pools to smaller individual pools. Most communities still provide the “City” pool; however, apartment complexes, homeowner's associations and many individual homes have permanent, in-ground swimming pools which primarily reserve use of the pools for members of the complex, association or the home owner. As these pools are typically smaller in scale and are not used as revenue generating tools, the costs of pool supporting equipment can become onerous. Pool cleaning systems fall into this expensive category.
Pool cleaning systems are typically built as a permanent addition to the in-ground pool. However, as the complexity and costs of these systems increased, swimming pool owners began to request alternatives to these large cleaning systems. To meet this need, portable pool cleaning systems were developed. An example of such a portable pool cleaning system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,018,890 entitled “Pool Cleaning System” which is assigned to the North Broadway Corporation. This patent discloses a portable pool cleaning system for cleaning the surfaces of the swimming pools and the surrounding decks. This cleaning is accomplished without the necessity of draining the swimming pool. The system includes a cart for containing an electric pump and lines, one to a cleaning agent and one to a clean water source. The system implements a wand for scrubbing the walls and base of the swimming pool and the surrounding deck. This system requires the user to clean the pool and deck by scrubbing with the wand and then requires the user to add additional chemicals to the pool to counteract the cleaning agents.
In another example, a portable pool cleaning system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,174 entitled “Self-Contained Mobile Pool Cleaning Apparatus” awarded to James F. Thiem and Jeffrey L. Scott. In this disclosed system, the cleaning apparatus includes a self-contained pump, filter and driving motor mounted on a hand wheeled truck and housed in a waterproof enclosure. The system further discloses a sweeper head that moves along the bottom and side walls of the pool in the usual manner by a hingedly mounted wand. This system requires the user to clean the pool by scrubbing with the wand.
These disclosed systems require the user to manually scrub the bottom and walls of the pool with the wand of the portable pool cleaning systems. Therefore, any advancement in the ability to remotely initiate and complete the cleaning would be greatly appreciated.